501c3 and Aircraft Restoration and Flying

Hi all,
It seems like from what i'm seeing, there are either privately owned warbirds, or warbirds owned by "museums". Sometimes it's an actual brick and mortar museum, or one that comprises of just the aircraft itself.

My question is, if one knows of a aircraft worthy of restoration, is it as simple as forming a non profit company for the purposes of raising funds through donations to restore and fly the airplane, or historically has it been more of a creative accounting method for warbird owners that can afford the aircraft out of pocket, but have it serve as some kind of tax write off for the expenses associated with maintaining the aircraft by being a 501c3 Educational Museum?

There's an aircraft I'm aware of that I think would make an excellent candidate for restoration, but i'm not a rich man by a long shot. Should i sit on the sidelines as a dreamer, or is there a legit way to making this a reality? Kind of like crowd sourcing?

Is this one of those like Fight Club, that we don't talk about, or does no one have any thoughts, observations or advice on this? ;)

Personally, I would be fascinated to learn how myself…although I have been told by someone else who has done similar work is that 501c7 is more appropriate.

I think arod138 wants 501(c)(3) status as he is interested in raising money through tax deductible donations to finance a warbird restoration/flying hobby. 501(c)(7) contributions are not tax deductible and the donations would have to come primarily from the members convinced to join. The latter would work if one is interested in forming a flying club with the objective of restoring and flying a warbird. Of course, once the project is complete, everyone will want to participate in flying the plane -- actually that all sounds like it might work as long as you sign up members with fat wallets.

arod138, I think you'll have to adjust your goals slightly, outside the challenge of finding people to hand over large donations, the IRS will want to see your organization focused on activities that benefit society as a whole, not as an activity that appears to personally benefit one or two officers of the organization, e.g. the boss getting exclusive privilege to restore and fly a warbird through donations.
Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but in your original posts, it appears you are looking for an alternative method of financing a personal goal and if that's the case, it will be hard to convince the IRS of 501(c)(3) status.

martymayes thanks for your feedback. A little background on me is that I've already formed (and we were literally approved this past Friday!) a 501c3 to build a memorial display, featuring a RU-21A, (US Army King Air) which was flown during the Cold War and Desert Storm http://www.138thavnco.org/RU21A-Memorial-Project.html

It's going to sit on a pedestal, but there is another aircraft that was also flown by the 138th Aviation Company during Vietnam, which is a RU-8D, (US Army Twin Bonanza) that I believe is a prime candidate for restoration to flight.

Having visited a lot of Warbird Facebook and Web pages, it seems a lot of them, like when they blow a $60,000 R2800 or something, rally support to raise funds to replace the engine by seeking a tax deductible donation.

A lot of these Warbird operators have the "mission" to "educate the public", "raise awareness of Veterans issues", etc etc. that they seem to be careful to use language that would be approved of by the IRS for the tax deductible status.

So although it may seem like I'm asking "how can i get other people to pay for me to have my own warbird?", is it conceivable that I could simply rally people (and money) together under a common cause which would be to save, restore, and fly a warbird to honor veterans, and educate the public?

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Mayhemxpc, let's see what we find out, btw I like your webpage and aircraft!

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Originally Posted by arod138

but there is another aircraft that was also flown by the 138th Aviation Company during Vietnam, which is a RU-8D, (US Army Twin Bonanza) that I believe is a prime candidate for restoration to flight.

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let me know how it works out or if you need any restoration help. We had a T-Bone where I went to A&P school. It was an airworthy airplane and I would have liked to have flown it but all the school's planes were prohibited from flying. :(

Do you know if the T-Bone was ex Army U-8? It seems a lot of them went to Tech a Schools after being sent to D-M AFB in 1980

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Originally Posted by arod138

Do you know if the T-Bone was ex Army U-8? It seems a lot of them went to Tech a Schools after being sent to D-M AFB in 1980

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No, probably not ex Army or from Davis Monthan. School got the plane from DEA sometime in the early 80's. It had a shady criminal past. It did not comply with any T-bone TCDS, apparently the plane spent some time in Mena where different engines and props, larger oil coolers and enlarged exhaust augmenters were installed.

Sounded great when we would take it out to run it up which is why I wanted to fly it.

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Originally Posted by arod138

Mayhemxpc, let's see what we find out, btw I like your webpage and aircraft!

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Thanks, as you might be able to tell from the posts, the vast majority of my use is devoted towards displaying the airplane as a war memorial and educating the public. Most of my flying is proficiency and getting it to display locations. My thought with regard to 501c3 use would be to reimburse the foundation or whatever for the cost of flying the plane (for whatever flying was not in support of the public education aspect.) Like you, it is just an idea right now. My wife is promoting the idea of trying to crowd-source certain projects for historical restoration. These include things like re-uphosltering the seats to duck canvas rather than the sage green naugahyde they are now or replacing the rear side windows with ones that have the hinged doors. Better mock weapons (although I am not unhappy with what I have) or maybe some original radio panels.

-- Chris

Only thing worse than flying behind one geared lycoming is flying behind two geared lycomings.

[QUOTE=Mayhemxpc;45083]Thanks, as you might be able to tell from the posts, the vast majority of my use is devoted towards displaying the airplane as a war memorial and educating the public. Most of my flying is proficiency and getting it to display locations. My thought with regard to 501c3 use would be to reimburse the foundation or whatever for the cost of flying the plane (for whatever flying was not in support of the public education aspect.) Good luck, Surely there is among the membership of the EAA, it couldn't be unusual for there to be a tax attorney or two out there who might know the answer!

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Originally Posted by martymayes

I think arod138 wants 501(c)(3) status as he is interested in raising money through tax deductible donations to finance a warbird restoration/flying hobby. 501(c)(7) contributions are not tax deductible and the donations would have to come primarily from the members convinced to join. The latter would work if one is interested in forming a flying club with the objective of restoring and flying a warbird. Of course, once the project is complete, everyone will want to participate in flying the plane -- actually that all sounds like it might work as long as you sign up members with fat wallets.

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That sounds right. The person I got the information from is starting an association that sounds very much like what you describe. The issue is doing something that would provide an educational benefit for the public, which, as I have learned previously, is 501c3.